Americans Lost Record-Breaking N4trn to Internet Scams in 2022, Report Reveals Top Victims, How It Happens
- Americans lost over N4.7 trillion ($10.3bn) due to internet scams in 2022, according to a report by the FBI.
- The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center received more than 2,000 complaints from victims per day in 2022
- Investment scams, impostor scams, and online shopping scams were also among the most common types of internet scams in 2022
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The Federal Bureau of Investigation, (FBI) has revealed that in 2022, Americans fell victim to various internet scams, amounting to a loss of N4.7 trillion($10.3bn).
FBI disclosed this in a report published on Tuesday, March 14 2023.
According to the bureau, the amount of money lost by Americans to scams in 2022 is the highest in five years.
Source: UGC
FBI gives details of how it happened
ABC News reports that in 2022, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received over 2,000 victims' complaints daily.
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The Bureau noted that the most reported internet crimes were phishing expeditions, which affected 300,497 individuals and resulted in a loss of over $52 million.
Phishing is a fraudulent technique where attackers send unsolicited emails, texts, or calls pretending to be from legitimate organizations and asking for personal or financial information.
This tactic is successful because the phishing emails often appear to be from familiar sources, leading victims to click on unsecured links.
Additionally FBI said that data breaches and non-payment scams were the next most frequent types of internet scams in 2022, with 58,859 and 51,679 victims, respectively.
The most costly fraud
In a similar report by US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) a breakdown of the age group of the victims was revealed.
FTC said:
"While a smaller percentage of older people report being victims of scams than younger people, they tend to lose far more money to these crimes: A median amount of more than $1,000 for victims 70 and older, compared with about $550 for those in their 20s."
The commission also revealed that the fraudsters perpetrate their act through online shopping scams; scams involving prizes, sweepstakes, and lotteries; investment scams; and business and job opportunity scams.
FG warns as 'yahoo boys' develop new method to hack bank account in one click
In a similar report, NDIC has decided to educate Nigerians on new methods fraudsters now employ to hack bank accounts.
NDIC's, an agency of the government, emphasizes the need for customers to keep their banking details confidential and secure.
The agency's warnings come as fraudsters have reportedly developed ways to hack into customers' bank accounts in just one click
Source: Legit.ng
